


Dente-de-leão

by mrobrotzly



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Emotionally Constipated Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Post-Episode: S01E06 Rare Species, Shapeshifter Jaskier | Dandelion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:35:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28044759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrobrotzly/pseuds/mrobrotzly
Summary: Geralt finally finds his child of surprise - or rather, she finds him - but Cirilla isn't alone, beside her is a majestic lion with familiar blue eyes[...] Months of searching and finally she was here, Cirilla, his child of surprise, alive - shivering slightly in his arms, but safe and sound.Their moment was quickly broken when Geralt heard something and hid the girl behind him, sword pointed towards the noise.His eyes wide, facing the second thing he heard moving around, for a moment he had forgotten that an animal was nearby and, well, it wasn't a dog... he never would have guessed what it really was.In front of him, majestic, with a calm expression and intense blue eyes was a lion. [...]
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 14
Kudos: 363





	Dente-de-leão

**Author's Note:**

> about the title: dente-de-leão is dandelion in portuguese and if translated the words separately it means lion's tooth
> 
> always remembering: english is not my first language, probably you'll find some mistakes here, sorry, just tell me if it's really a big problem and i'll do my best to correct this.

Ever since the events that occurred after the dragon hunt - events that he didn't want to think about, since it made him lose two of the most important people in his life - Geralt focused his mind on one task: find his child of surprise.

He could feel all the pieces falling into place, knowing what he would find her, that this was inevitable, but even so he did everything to make it happen as soon as possible, because every passing day, every hour, minute or second was a chance that she would be in danger and Geralt didn't want to see anyone else get hurt because of a mistake he made.

He hadn't thought about what his relationship with Ciri would be like, or where their meeting would take place, but he could say with certainty: that was _not_ what he expected.

Cirilla found Geralt in a forest, just after the witcher finished setting up his camp, he heard footsteps, not far from where he was and reached for his sword. Human, he realized, but not alone, something was with them, an animal. A dog, maybe? He was ready for figh if they were some bandit, but all he saw was a child.

A girl with her hair hidden by the hood of her cloak, with bright green eyes that widened when she saw the witcher. Geralt didn't have time to relax his posture and she was already running towards him, hugging him. He returned the hug awkwardly, but feeling that finally he could rest. Months of searching and finally she was here, Cirilla, his child of surprise, alive - shivering slightly in his arms, but safe and sound.

Their moment was quickly broken when Geralt heard something and hid the girl behind him, sword pointed towards the noise.

His eyes wide, facing the second thing he heard moving around, for a moment he had forgotten that an animal was nearby and, well, it wasn't a dog... he never would have guessed what it really was.

In front of him, majestic, with a calm expression and intense blue eyes was a lion.

A lion?! This kind of creature didn't live in these forest, didn't live even close to the region where Geralt was. He held the sword firmly, waiting for the animal to attack.

"Don’t!" Ciri said, running to the lion, Geralt's heart stopped for an instant, but he didn't have time to move and the girl was already holding the animal in a hug "He's my friend!" she said, looking at the witcher as if daring him to say something against it.

Geralt looked at the scene in front of him, his child of surprise hugging a predator, an animal of the species that originated the nickname of the queen of Cintra and he would laugh if he wasn't so astonished that the _fucking lion_ was calmly watching him while the girl caressed its ears.

"Friend?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, his voice making it clear that it seemed absurd, Ciri nodded, Dandelion laid on the forest floor and the girl sat down next to it- to him, still running her fingers through the lion's mane.

“Dandelion found me in the forest, they were trying to capture me but I…” she stopped talking, pressing her lips, the lion moved his head to the side, pressing his muzzle against Ciri's palm, she gave a small smile “Now, he keeps me safe.”

Geralt nodded, obviously he had a lot of unanswered questions, but said nothing, he wouldn't take away from the girl the only thing that made her feel safe, not with everything that was happening around her.

* * *

As the days went by, Geralt got used to the sight of the princess and the feline together, the group walked through the forest on the way to Kaer Morhen, the witcher's idea was to avoid civilization as much as possible. 

He and Ciri didn’t talk much, but that didn’t mean there was silence during the day, the girl talked a lot to the lion, the animal walked beside her most of the time, listening to her and, strangely, seemed to understand what she was saying. Geralt, more than once, approached to see if his medallion vibrated and tried to check if there were any traces of magic from the animal and the feline seemed to know what he was doing, looking at him intensely, twitching his ears. Without any proof that the lion was nothing more than an ordinary animal, the witcher avoided getting in his way, there was something familiar in the lion's eyes, something that made his chest tighten and he didn't quite understand why.

"You were at my parents' betrothal, weren't you?" Ciri asked one night. Dandelion was lying next to the girl, his eyes closed, but the movement of his ears making it clear that he was paying attention “No one ever told me the whole story. Not even Dandelion."

Geralt raised an eyebrow "The lion?" he asked and the girl laughed softly.

“No, not the lion” she ran her fingers over the animal's mane, amusement shining in her eyes as she looked at Dandelion as if they had an inside joke “The bard” she explained, and Geralt unconsciously straightened up, paying more attention to what the princess was saying.

“Dandelion always performed on my birthdays, one day he found me in the garden when I was running away from a lesson. He was playing a song I never heard before and when I asked him he told me it was about a hero, the White Wolf” Geralt swallowed, pressing his lips, the nickname felt like someone poking an open wound, but he said nothing "He told me that neither the song nor the story about the hero was finished, so I was supposed to keep it a secret" she laughed, shaking his head "Now I know he just said that so grandma wouldn't find out that he was telling me stories about you."

The witcher nodded, watching her smile at the lion, his eyes now open and fixed on him, studying him intently.

"But there are stories that not even he told me" she said "Like my parents' betrothal."

"So you want me to tell you?"

The girl smiled "We don't have a bard here to do this, do we?" she said, winking at the lion and Geralt could have sworn that if animals were able to roll their eyes, Dandelion would have done that.

"Funny that you mentioned a bard" the witcher said, Ciri and the lion raised their heads paying attention "It's because of one that the story begins."

And Geralt told her everything that happened that night and sometimes Ciri interrupted him to ask some questions, he noticed Ciri's expression change when he mentioned Calanthe and Mousesack and how the lion approached, laying his head on her lap to comfort her.

"It was a bigger mess than I thought" she said, frowning, fingers caressing the animal's mane.

"At least no one would forget it so soon" he said and Ciri chuckled, before tilting her head slightly to the side and look at him.

"The bard that was with you" she said and Geralt felt a lump start to form in his throat "What's his name?"

He took a deep breath and looked away - a bad choice because he was caught by the blue of Dandelion's eyes and that, for some reason, made his heart beat faster than usual.

"Jaskier" he said, there were few seconds when he enjoyed saying that name again, after so many months, but then: guilt and regret weighing on his chest like every time he let himself think about what happened on the top of that damn mountain.

"What happened to him?" Ciri asked.

"I made a mistake" was Geralt's reply, the girl frowned.

"That's it?" she said "Then, you just have to try and fix it."

The witcher shook his head "It's more complicated than that."

"Why?"

"I'm a witcher, there's no place for a human in my life."

"I'm a human" she said firmly.

"And my responsibility because of another mistake I made" he replied without thinking.

She stood up quickly, surprising Geralt and the lion that previously rested on her lap.

"So I'm a mistake?" she said, her voice an octave higher, looking at him with narrowed eyes.

"I didn't sa-"

"I didn't ask for it!" she ignored his attempt to explain "I barely know you and yet you're my destiny, but I'm here and you've a place in my life now and I think it's selfish of you not to give a chance to the people who're giving it to you!"

Geralt looked at her in surprise, for a moment it seemed that she wasn't talking only about her, but he didn't said anything, she huffed and turned away.

"Where are you going?" he asked, standing up when she started walking out of the camp.

"To the lake" she replied "I'll be back in a few minutes" he had no chance to argue, Dandelion got up, going after the girl and Geralt knew that she would be safe with the animal and that she wouldn't lie to him about coming back. He just didn't expect the sad and disapproving look in the lion's face...

Geralt spent the time alone thinking about what to do, he could hear her, since she wasn't far, she was talking to Dandelion, but he couldn't understand the words. He took a deep breath and let himself think of something that he had forbidden to cross his mind months ago: he wanted Jaskier to be here with him, he would know what to say not only to Ciri, but to Geralt as well...

Then, he suddenly lifted his head, listening intently, there’s another voice coming from where Ciri was... Quickly rising from where he was sitting, sword in hand, Geralt ran to where the girl should be.

When he finally reached the lake, he couldn't hear the voices anymore and all he saw was Cirilla looking at him with wide eyes and clearly trying to hide a smile.

"Are you alright?" he asked, sword still in hand, looking from side to side.

"I am" she replied, raising an eyebrow "Why are you here?"

"I heard voices" he said, finally relaxing realizing that there was no danger around, he looked at the girl "Where's your cloak?"

She shrugged, smiling at him "With Dandelion."

"And where's Dandelion?"

She giggled, just like earlier - before he told her about the betrothal - as if all of that was a giant inside joke “He'll be back when he's ready.”

It didn't make sense, but Geralt didn't ask, since Ciri was already walking in front of him, towards the camp.

They both sat in front of the fire, in silence. Cirilla tapped her fingers on the trunk she's sitting on, looking up and watching the stars, she took a deep breath.

"Look, I'm sorry" she said "I shouldn't have called you selfish."

Geralt shook his head.

"You weren't wrong about that" he said and the girl turned to look at him. "I'm sorry too, I just... I'm not good with people. Or talking.”

"That’s okay" she said smiling at him "I know you’re trying" He smiled too and she went back to watch the stars in a comfortable silence.

And Geralt could feel something something growing in his chest, warm and very much like what he felt when sitting in front of a fireplace while listening to Vesemir and Lambert arguing, while Eskel is reading a book beside him, a feeling he only felt with those he called his family. He knew that this was what he and Ciri would be. _Family_.

And perhaps more soon than he expected...

But peace is always short lived.

Cirilla was going to get her bedroll when Geralt motioned for her to stop moving and be silent. There was something in the forest. No, _Someone._ And it wasn't only one person.

They were surrounded.

It was faster than he expected, the men who came towards him while he drew his sword, he shouted for Cirilla to run, but the girl didn't get far, being caught by two men who appeared on the other side of the camp. She managed to get rid of one while Geralt stabbed the man in front of him, narrowly deflecting two other men who were trying to hit him, the fact that they were wearing armor making it difficult to deliver a direct blow that would take their lives.

The one who was with Ciri raised a dagger, probably to threaten to kill her if the witcher didn't stop fighting, but he didn't have time to say a word, Dandelion, finally back to the camp, roared loudly and dragged the man by the leg, before ending the his life with his claws. Then, the lion was in front of Ciri, ready to attack anyone who dared to approach the girl, giving Geralt an advantage thanks to the confusion over the sudden arrival.

They could win the fight, the witcher thought, between sword blows and furtive glances at the lion that attacked with claws and teeth. They could win.

If it weren't for the archer.

Geralt felt more than he saw the arrow that stuck in the side of his body, but - thanks to years of training - he didn't falter, sword firm in his hand, he could go on until the last man fell, but there was something more. Such a wound wouldn't be enough to make his legs tremble or his vision to darken at the edges. He was able to look quickly at where the arrow was stuck, seeing a yellowish substance dripping with the blood.

_Poison._

Realizing it made his body stop working properly, he dropped to his knees in front of an enemy - only one move and the man would cut off his head.

He started to lose consciousness, but before he passed out he heard a cacophony of sounds. Cirilla screaming loudly, just like Pavetta at her betrothal, the roar of Dandelion, the sound of steel against steel and of falling bodies. And after that, nothing more.

* * *

“Ciri, give me that potion” he heard a voice, it sounded low, as if it was far away “Yes, that one” Geralt felt something touch his lips, but he had no control over his body or enough strength to open his mouth or his eyes "Come on, Geralt, you have to drink it."

He used all the strength he had left to swallow the liquid that was carefully poured into his mouth.

"He'll be fine?" someone asked. Ciri, he recognized, feeling relieved that she was alive.

"He will, princess. He will." the voice said and he knew that voice, he knew well the voice that never failed to fill his chest with a feeling that he never had the courage to name, but it can't be...

Ciri continued to murmur quietly to the person who was with her and Geralt could slowly feel his body returning to his control - he also realized that the poison wasn't strong enough to kill him, only to leave him unconscious for a few minutes and that the potion he drank was more for the pain that would certainly follow.

"He's waking up!" Cirilla exclaimed excitedly and she was sitting next to him, but when Geralt opened his eyes, it wasn't the girl the one leaning over him.

He saw blue, intense and beautiful blue, blue from the same eyes that had been watching him since the moment Geralt found his child of surprise and the witcher finally understood why the lion's eyes looked so familiar.

"Hello, Geralt" Jaskier said and smiled brightly at him.

**Author's Note:**

> I want to make a series with shapeshifter!Jaskier, but I'm not sure when I'm going to start writing it (since I've a lot of WIPs to finish) so I decided that this would be a good ending for this shortfic.
> 
> ♡ if you enjoy my work, toss a coin to your writer, please, links are on my twitter ☕️ thank you ♡  
> [ ♡ twitter ♡ ](http://twitter.com/sorcererjaskier)
> 
> if you liked leave kudos and comments, it will make me very happy 💖


End file.
